Refrigerated trucks ‘ bring in illegals’

RUTHLESS gangs are using refrigerated lorries to smuggle migrants into the UK, the National Crime Agency has warned.

Organised networks are cashing in on those desperate to get into the country by any means, the NCA said in a report.

Investigators at the ‘British FBI’ said gangs are making millions from the closure of migrant camps at Calais and Dunkirk which has had little impact on the activities of ‘professional’ criminals.

NCA chiefs said illegal migration remains one of the most serious crime threats the UK faces, with people smugglers continuing to favour hard- sided refrigerated lorries despite the risk of suffocation and hypothermia.

Organised gangs are also illegally bringing people into the country by air under false documentation, the report warned. They may be taking advantage of more than 3,000 small airstrips, many of them with no security or controls.

‘Organised crime groups facilitating illegal migrants will continue to be an issue for the UK,’ the report said.

In a disturbing overview of crime threatening the nation, the NCA report said there are around 4,600 organised crime groups in the UK.

Meanwhile analysts identified a growing number of guns smuggled in from Eastern Europe and the Balkan states.

The UK remains a prime destination for foreign ‘ politically exposed persons’ to launder proceeds of corruption. Officials said that they are attracted by a small number of corrupt accountants, lawyers and other professionals who can help hide their illegal assets.

The ubiquity of mobile phones in jails is also letting gangsters continue to run their empires from behind bars.